The club wasted no time executing the inevitable, and axed Schwartz on Monday morning just hours after his 51st loss in five years, according to ESPN. The move was widely expected after presided over a second consecutive collapse.

He was the sixth head coach to be served his papers, following Tampa Bay's Greg Schiano, Washington's Mike Shanahan and Minnesota's Leslie Frazier on Monday; Cleveland's Rob Chudzinski on Sunday; and Houston's Gary Kubiak during the season.

Schwartz finishes his tenure 29-51 overall, the worst record of any coach in his first five years since John McKay of the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.He reportedly has two years and more than $12 million remaining on his contract, which Detroit must still pay. But the Lions became willing to shell out the big bucks after the Lions' once-promising devolved into an ugly and mistaken-riden 1-6 finish.

The collapse cost Detroit its first division title in 20 years.

Schwartz's final game was a 14-13 loss in Minnesota on Sunday. The Lions concluded the season 7-9, their fourth losing season in five years under Schwartz.He said after that game he was unaware of his fate, and remained hopeful about his future.

"I certainly would like to be back," he said. "I think we have unfinished business this year. We've come a long way in these years, but we still have some ground that we can make. And I'm anxious to be able to have a chance to do that.

"We're confident in the way that we work, and with what we're doing as a team. Obviously we didn't win enough games this year. And there's no standard to judge other than that. I understand that."

The Ford family, which owns the Lions, gave Schwartz his first head coaching job in 2009. The long-time Titans defensive coordinator won two games his first season, then six, then 10 in a playoff-bound 2011 season.

But the Lions' meteoric rise was followed by a spectacular fall from grace. They were just 7-17 in their past 24 games.

Schwartz's era was marked by increased competitiveness, but riddled with too many mistakes -- especially penalties and turnovers -- to consistently close out games. In 2013 alone, Detroit lost seven times after holding a fourth-quarter lead.

Schwartz called the Lions' ability to play opponents close, even in defeat, a "hallmark" of his tenure. And aptly so.

Another inescapable hallmark was his acerbity. He was often combative with the media, developed a reputation around the league for being difficult to work with and even appeared to feud with fans in his home finale last week against the New York Giants.

Schwartz had on-field drama as well, most notably chasing San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh after a postgame handshake in 2011.He was fired because he didn't win enough, though his unlikeability -- including a plummeting approval rating among fans -- certainly didn't help matters.Now the Fords must hire their 16th coach since William Clay bought the team 50 years ago, and their seventh since 2000. They haven't had much luck, either, with just two of the 16 -- Joe Schmidt and Gary Moeller -- completing their tenures with winning records.

William Clay Ford, now 88 years old, remains chairman after all these years. But he's believed to have ceded much of the primary decision making, including coaching decisions, to son Bill Ford Jr.

Early, trendy candidates have included San Diego offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and Penn State head coach Bill O'Brien, though O'Brien has been linked to Houston in the past days.

Honestly, if Linehan doesn't go, too, I couldn't care less. His play-calling is horrific against any challenging defense.

Author:

DJ-B [ December 30th, 2013, 1:07 pm ]

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Re: Detroit Lions fire Jim Schwartz

I dont know if any team ever has fired a HC and kept a coord, unless that coord was then promoted to HC. New HCs like to bring in their own Coordinators, so Linehan and Gunther are gone.

Author:

thelomasbrowns [ December 30th, 2013, 1:10 pm ]

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Re: Detroit Lions fire Jim Schwartz

Looks like Mayhew and Lewand will be retained:

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njroar [ December 30th, 2013, 1:11 pm ]

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Re: Detroit Lions fire Jim Schwartz

GM's hire and fire coordinators but they're usually a HC's choice. They still haven't announced The front office fate, so that could be on them later in the day, or a new GM's decision. ALL coaches are pretty much done when a HC goes unless the incoming HC decides to retain anyone.

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LionsAllDay [ December 30th, 2013, 1:13 pm ]

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Re: Detroit Lions fire Jim Schwartz

Good point. Do you guys want a college HC or seasoned NFL coach? I want a college coach for a breath of fresh air with the offense.

Author:

Pablo [ December 30th, 2013, 1:13 pm ]

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Re: Detroit Lions fire Jim Schwartz

DJ-B wrote:

I dont know if any team ever has fired a HC and kept a coord, unless that coord was then promoted to HC. New HCs like to bring in their own Coordinators, so Linehan and Gunther are gone.

It has happened, hell in Dallas they hired the OC (Jason Garrett) before hiring a coach (Wade Phillips) in 2007. Thought that was pretty crazy.

I don't see this happening in Motown however.

Author:

UK Lion [ December 30th, 2013, 1:16 pm ]

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Re: Detroit Lions fire Jim Schwartz

I'm pleased to see him gone.

Now it's a case of getting the right replacement - and over to the candidates thread.

On assistants, no reason to let go of them now IMO. It should be the new HC's decision as to who he has as his assistants, but he should be able to retain those on the current staff he wants to (if he wants any of them). I think our line coaches have been good this year.

Author:

DJ-B [ December 30th, 2013, 1:18 pm ]

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Re: Detroit Lions fire Jim Schwartz

Pablo wrote:

DJ-B wrote:

I dont know if any team ever has fired a HC and kept a coord, unless that coord was then promoted to HC. New HCs like to bring in their own Coordinators, so Linehan and Gunther are gone.

It has happened, hell in Dallas they hired the OC (Jason Garrett) before hiring a coach (Wade Phillips) in 2007. Thought that was pretty crazy.

I don't see this happening in Motown however.

True, forgot about that. Although Not many teams/owners/etc mimic the choices of Jerry Jones, and there is good reason for that.

Author:

thelomasbrowns [ December 30th, 2013, 1:27 pm ]

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Re: Detroit Lions fire Jim Schwartz

Author:

Pablo [ December 30th, 2013, 1:35 pm ]

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Re: Detroit Lions fire Jim Schwartz

thelomasbrowns wrote:

Rookie

Author:

UK Lion [ December 30th, 2013, 1:37 pm ]

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Re: Detroit Lions fire Jim Schwartz

He got us away from 0-16, and gave me my first opportunity to watch the Lions in the playoffs and 2 seasons of watching relevent games. I've not had that in my time as a fan.

So thanks Jim for that - it is appreciated. I think the time was right to part ways, but thanks for what you did here. This franchise is in a much better spot now than when you arrived.

Author:

UK Lion [ December 30th, 2013, 1:40 pm ]

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Re: Detroit Lions fire Jim Schwartz

Author:

BillySims [ December 30th, 2013, 9:57 pm ]

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Re: Detroit Lions fire Jim Schwartz

Linehan, The QB Coach, and the WR's Coach were all let go. All the rest of the coaching staff are still in place for the moment. They will be the next HC's decision.

Basically, the Lions are hoping the Next HC will keep some of the position coaches so that the Lions aren't on the hook for 20 some assistant coaches paychecks for doing nothing. If they get hired by another team, (and I am certain the Lions have given them the right to shop their services), then the Lions are only liable to pay the difference between what they make with their new team, ( if it is less), and what they make now.